NASCAR Race Review: Saturday Double-Header

Welcome NASCAR race fans to my NASCAR blog. Saturday was a double-header for NASCAR race fans at two different tracks. Saturday afternoon the NASCAR Nationwide Series was at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway (The Magic Mile) for the New England 200, the nineteenth race of their season. Saturday evening saw the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at the Iowa Speedway for the Coca-Cola 200 presented by Hy-Vee, their eleventh race. And for you race fans that like more than NASCAR races, Saturday was a triple-header with the ARCA Racing Series also at Iowa Speedway. I shall give a short review of all three. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is racing the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 on Sunday at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

First the NNS race, the New England 200. 22 Brad Keselowski (Cup driver) started from the Pole with a speed of 129.384 mph and 29.438 seconds around the Magic Mile. Starting second is 33 Kevin Harvick (Cup diver). David Green started his 400th race. 22 and 33 start side by side for the lead. 22 gets sideways and 33 leads. 88 Aric Almirola and 22 race for second, they get together and 88 finally gets by. 18 Kyle Busch (Cup driver) gets by 88 for third. 18 gets by 22 in traffic and catches leader 33.

The first caution comes out on lap 33 when 6 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. tries to drive under 31 Justin Allgaier, gets loose and spins. They all make a pit stop and 60 Carl Edwards (Cup driver) and 16 Trevor Bayne come out first and second. 16 takes the lead and 60 falls back and heads for the pits. The crew pushes him to the garage. (He will join the announcers in the Booth.) The second caution comes out for debris. 33 takes the lead. The third caution comes out when 30 Mikey Kile spins. 01 Mike Wallace gets his lap back. The fourth caution comes out when 66 Steve Wallace turns 38 Jason Leffler into the wall.51 Jeremy Clements gets his lap back.

2 Elliott Sadler and 16 race for position. 32 Reed Sorenson drives under 2. 88 and 7 Kasey Kahne (Cup driver) race side by side. The fifth caution comes out when 28 Derrike Cope blows up with much smoke. 14 Eric McClure gets back onto the lead lap. 09 Kenny Wallace and 6 stay out to lead. 6 takes the lead. 6 and 22 battle for the lead and 22 takes the lead. 22, 18 and 33 battle for position and 22 has to back off to let 18 by.

The sixth caution comes out during the commercial for debris. They go Green with 28 laps to go. 6 takes the lead. 18 does a slide job on 6 to take the lead. (Harvick is told by NASCAR President to not bother Busch, their favorite, going for 100th win in all three Series.Apparently “boys have at it” doesn’t pertain to Kyle. ) The seventh caution comes out during the commercial. 22 gets loose trying to get by 16 and spins but stays on the lead lap. They go Green with eleven laps to go. Andrew Ranger gets his lap back.

The eighth caution comes out when 66 pushes 20 Joey Logano into 16. They both spin and collect 51 and 32. They restart with four laps to go. The ninth caution comes out at the restart with many cars involved. (Kyle is low on fuel and wants NASCAR to throw the Red Flag for clean-up.) They restart with 33 on top and 18 on the inside. 18 Kyle Busch (Cup driver) wins his 49th career (?) race and 100th race in all of NASCAR. He has 22 Sprint Cup wins. 33 Harvick finished second, followed by 7 Kahne, 6 Stenhouse, Jr., 88 Almirola, 09 K. Wallace, 62 Michael Annett, 22 Keselowski, 66 S. Wallace and 31 Allgaier. For the top ten in points, it’s Sadler, Sorenson, Stenhouse, Jr., Allgaier, Almirola, Leffler, K. Wallace, S. Wallace, Annett and Brian Scott.

Now for the Coca-Cola 200 presented by Hy-Vee. 2 David Mayhew starts from the Pole with a speed of 136.482 mph and 23.080 seconds around the 7/8 mile Iowa Speedway. 22 Joey Coulter starts second. There have been two Truck races at this new track and both were won by the driver starting on the Pole. 98 Dakoda Armstrong is 20 on race day, making his first Camping World Truck start.

2 leads from the Pole. 13 Johnny Sauter drives under 3 Austin Dillon, the race side by side and 13 gets into 3 to get by. 22 and 31 James Buescher race side by side for second. 17 Timothy Peters and 8 Nelson Piquet, Jr. race side by side. The first caution comes out on lap 11 when 18 Brian Ickler spins. The second caution is for 4 Ricky Carmichael getting loose under 7 Miguel Paludo and hitting the wall. 13 takes the lead from third at the restart. 3 and 13 battle for the lead and 3 takes the lead.

33 Ron Hornaday heads for the pits to get his seat belt back on! He looses two laps. The third caution comes out when 23 Jason White blows a tire and crashes into the safer barrier. 39 Ryan Sieg gets his lap back. 3 leads and 22 gets by 13 for second. The fourth caution comes out when 33 goes around. 98 Dakoda Armstrong gets back onto the lead lap. 32 Steve Arpin and 46 Justin Lofton race side by side. 22 finally gets by 31 for second.

The fifth caution comes out when 66 Justin Marks comes across the infield and hits the outside wall of pit road, breaking the wall! There is a Red Flag to fix it. 4 Ricky Carmichael gets back onto the lead lap. 3 leads with 2 and 22 battling for second. 88 and 22 race side by side for third and 13 drives up to them. Green Flag Pitting starts with 29 Parker Kligerman. The sixth caution comes out for 4 blowing a tire and getting into the wall before the leaders make their pit stop. 39 Ryan Sieg is again the Lucky Dog and gets his lap back.

5 Todd Bodine stays out to lead, but gets in the way at the restart and 88 takes the lead from fourth. 3 had a slow pit stop but drives up through the field to catch leader 88. They battle side by side, back and fourth, but 3 can’t complete the pass. 88 Matt Crafton holds off 3 Dillon to capture his second Truck win. The top eight drive Chevy’s. Mayhew finished third, Sauter fourth and Coulter fifth. 60 Cole Whitt, 31 Buescher, 8 Piquet, Jr., 81David Starr and 5 Bodine round out the top ten. Sauter retains the points lead, with Dillon, Whitt, Buescher and Crafton in the top five. Peters, Hornaday, Kligerman, Coulter and Brendan Gaughan round out the top ten.

The ARCA Racing League was at the Iowa Speedway before the Truck race. 41 Ty Dillon started from the Pole with 33 Cale Gale in second. Ty went on to lead the most laps and win the race. Next up: the Lenux Industrial Tools 301 from the New Hampshire Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon.